Monday, May 17, 2010

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the guilty pleas of MICHAEL SACKARIS and NU-WAY CRANE SERVICE INC. to charges of bribery, and of MICHAEL PASCALLI to a charge of offering a false instrument for filing, in connection with the bribing of the Acting Chief Inspector of Cranes and Derricks for the City’s Department of Buildings.

“Taking bribes in situations where safety is at risk is unacceptable, as is corruption at any level of government,” said District Attorney Vance. “This Office will continue to investigate public corruption cases, and fight to have the strongest tools available to prosecute those who violate the public trust.”
According to documents filed in court, SACKARIS was the de facto owner of NU-WAY CRANE SERVICE INC. On approximately twenty occasions, SACKARIS paid JAMES DELAYO, the Acting Chief Inspector for Cranes and Derricks at the Department of Buildings, to complete and file false paperwork with the Department of Buildings indicating that NU-WAY cranes had passed City inspections, when in fact the cranes had not been inspected at all, or only in a perfunctory way. On six other occasions, SACKARIS paid DELAYO to certify that NU-WAY employees seeking crane operator licenses passed their examinations. On one occasion, SACKARIS paid DELAYO to complete and file documents that stated MICHAEL PASCALLI, an employee of NU-WAY CRANE SERVICE INC., had passed a New York State hoisting machine operating license examination. In fact, DELAYO never administered such an exam to PASCALLI.

DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn said: “These defendants systematically exploited a corrupt City inspector, showing contempt for public integrity and safety and the professionalism of their own industry. Now, they rightly stand convicted for crimes that disregarded City rules and the taxpayers. This investigation and successful prosecution underscores that doling out bribes to a City buildings inspector to circumvent City regulations will not only be uncovered, but will end in arrest, prosecution, and conviction. DOI and the Manhattan District Attorney will continue to work together to uncover unsafe practices and corruption in any industry that does business in New York City.”

The sentencing for MICHAEL SACKARIS, MICHAEL PASCALLI, and NU-WAY CRANE SERVICE INC. is scheduled for July 13, 2010.

District Attorney Vance thanked New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn, Assistant Commissioner John Kantor, Inspector General Michael Carroll and Assistant Inspector General Edward Zinser.

DA Vance also thanked Assistant District Attorneys Deborah Hickey, Carey Ng and Sean Sullivan, and Paralegal Aaron Teitelbaum, who are assigned to the District Attorney’s Rackets Bureau, who worked on this case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Eric Seidel, Chief of the Rackets Bureau.

Defendant Information:

MICHAEL SACKARIS, 3/8/60
4 Buckingham Court
Saint James, New York

NU-WAY CRANE SERVICE, INC.
405 Ralph Avenue
Copiague, New York

Charge:
• Bribery in the Second Degree, a class C felony

MICHAEL PASCALLI, 8/16/84
20 Brenner Avenue
Bethpage, New York

Charge:
• Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the Second Degree, a class E felony

A class C felony is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a class E felony is punishable by up to 4 years in prison.

Earlier today at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York, Mohanbhai Ramchandani, of East Elmhurst, New York, pled guilty to violating the United States Treasury Department’s Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts Report law (FBAR) and filing false tax returns to conceal $3.2 million that he earned from his Manhattan-based tailoring business